Am I to understand i7 has the better performance, and AMD is multipurpose and has longer lifespan?

Yes, Q I am looking at some more sane and fiscally responsible boards...guess I had a moment there with the delusions of grandeur of buying a berzerker board that would soon be obsolete anyways... so thank you for injecting a little dialog of sanity back into the air my mind breathes.

On a (maybe, maybe not) minor note:

According to one source the i7 also has GPU abilities but are not taken advantage of... I was lead to believe it had none and you had to get separate GPUs anyways (though I see where having one around in ANY case is a better idea).

I have 2 or 3 reading references in my room here, and one in person...I am seeking more opinions. And if possible experiences.

The main question is, am I stuck with AMD processors and ATI Radeon if I want to use my machine more often and for other stuff than just overclocking and gaming?

I am trying to come to a decision here... I want something that will gore a politician like an angry bull in an alleyway, but if I go for performance, am I going to have to replace the processor *every year*?

Meanwhile I hear some boards with AMD processors tend to only unlock overclocking (both manual or preset increments)when you have all compatible parts; ATI radeon is larger louder and hotter running vs nvidia.

Sorry, any gaming elite out here, if I am asking anything repetitive or redundant.

We'll murder them all, amid laughter and merriment...except for the few we take home to experiment!